Greta's Birthday Gift Guide Part 2: Packaging and Crafting

Things never go quite according to plan, do they?

The past 2 nights I have been so worn out from all the fun I've been having with the kids, that I have fallen asleep with them at 8.

Being up with 3 of the 4 kids at various points in the night hasn't helped my energy level either.

Thus my plans to blog, even easy blogging, haven't panned out.

Oh well.

Life goes on.

I had a fantastic birthday today.

I think the last fantastic birthday I remember was when I turned 25.

35 was right up there with 25.  Better even.

I can't wait to show you some of my treats.

But first, the rest of my Birthday Gift Guide.

Today's Post: Packaging and Crafting.

First up: stamps.

Remember in the early 90s, when stamping was big?

There were whole stores dedicated to stamping.

But the stamps were cheesy at best and ugly at worst.

We've come a long way.

These stamp sets from one of my favorite shops, Yellow Owl Workshop, prove it.

Besides what I'd like to create with this stamp set myself, I'd love to give these to my kids and see the art they'd create with them.

Pretty great, right?

 I just can't say no to a vespa.

I love attaching tags like this to gifts.

And how great to add a little more graphic element to the tag?

This stamp is simple and perfect.

Go here to see all their stamp sets. 

The Paris one is pretty great.  You're sure to see more that you'll like.

Before you know it you'll be donning a denim jumper and getting your stamp on!

Nest up: Baker's Twine.

I am so in love with baker's twine.

For tying up packages, stringing up garlands, tying on the tags I make with that tag stamp...the possibilities are endless.

A whole assortment of colors like this kit from Baker's Bling would be my dream come true.

I never said I was hard to please.

Just give me some turquoise baker's twine and I'll be a happy girl.

Go here for the twine.

Last but not least: tape.

Do you think much about tape?

If not, it's time to start.

There are so many cute tapes out there and you can find lots of them at this shop, Cute Tape.

Have you ever seen anything as cute at this gingham tape?  It beats scotch all to pieces.

And I especially love the Japanese tape.

Would you look at those pink stripes?

Yowza!

 

So, do you have any favorite supplies for packaging and crafting?

If so, do share.

And be sure to check in  soon (tomorrow, today, I can't say for sure, just check back) to see one of my most favorite jewelry designers.

Until then.

Love from,

Greta, who is now 1 year older

Flea Market Finds, a Lesson Learned and a List

We went to the Long Beach Flea Market this weekend.

We went specifically to look for lights for our kitchen.  We have those terrible florescent lights on the ceiling and they have got to go.

As is so often the case when you are looking for something specific, we could not find what we wanted. But we did see a lot of other great stuff.

Like these thermoses.  Aaron has quite the obsession with thermoses.

When you visit the flea market with small children, you can be assured of visits to all the vintage toy booths.  James is developing quite an appreciation for vintage toys.  We're raising that boy right.

I just saw a spread in Ready Made magazine about a couple who collected tin doll houses.  I had never seen them before and thought they were pretty great.
They are.  Here is one I found.  Good thing it was too rickety to be played with, or I would have wanted to bring it home.

It was hard to get a good picture of the inside of each room, but you can kind of see how each one is decorated differently.  Look at the kitchen, bathroom and nursery.  So cute.

I always like to get a vintage gift for my new babies. For $12 this was a good find.
And please don't send me emails about the lead in these blocks and how I should not let my baby play with them.
Don't worry.  They would be for decoration only, not for chewing on.

Here's one of my obsessions.  Don't you love that red orange color?  I think I am ready to expand the typewriter collection in this house.  I'm now on the lookout for #2.

There is furniture too.  Check out this table top.  I love it.

Being married to Aaron has made me notice and appreciate things like this font.  And the rusty, worn wagon it adorns.  And also words like atomic and rockets are a direct Aaron influence.  The man has warped me.

I think everyone should have one of these hooked to their tvs.
Except that most everything you turn on would make the arrow go straight to the red.

This was one of my most favorite finds of the day.
A tin, wind up cuckoo clock.
How very cool is that?

But the coolest find of the day was the vintage, roll up map of California.  
I have wanted one of these maps for ages.  
They are hard to find.
And expensive.
This was one of the best prices I have seen.
And it was beautiful.  The colors were perfect for our house.  
But we waffled.
And when we came back, it was gone.


I almost cried.  I know.
Lame.
I learned my lesson.
If you see something at the flea market that you have wanted forever and it is a good price, just go for it!


Also, make a list.
It can be overwhelming to look through all that stuff and inevitably, you will let things slip by because amidst all that stuff you can't remember the things you are always looking for.
I began composing my list on Sunday afternoon and will keep it in my wallet for when I go estate saling, garage saling or flea marketing.


Here it is thus far:
Molded plastic chairs like this
Vintage pottery for my patio like this
Type writers
Vintage camping equipment
A pole lamp for Aaron like this
Vintage state glasses
Red Bakelite bracelets
Danish Modern wooden candle sticks like this
Melamine dishes, especially for a tea set like this
Vintage rotary phones
And, of course, vintage pull down maps.


I will add to my list as things come to me.
What would be on your list?


Love from,
Greta
PS.  That cuckoo clock is now sitting on my bookshelf giving me quite a bit of pleasure.
My husband surprised me.  He is sweet like that.

List # 12: The Best Meals of My Life

If you don't have a list of the best meals of your life, food may not be as important to you as it is to me.

That's OK.  We can still be friends.

You will, however, have to suffer through my list.  It will be good for you.  It might make you think about some of the good meals you've had in your life.  

There has to be at least one that still makes your mouth water when you think of it.

List # 12: The Best Meals of My Life

My list starts when I was 17 and just starting college. I am sure there were good meals before then, but I feel like this is when I really began to sit up straight and notice them.  All those years of cookbook reading had developed in me a love for the story of food, and the joy of making food.  Now I was enjoying the eating of it too.

1.  Picnic with Aaron.  We had just begun to date and he took me on our first picnic.  He packed an old basket with grapes, cheese, crackers, a baguette and some sparkling cider.  He spread a blanket in the tall grass of an empty field that has since been turned into a housing tract.  There were no bags of Doritos or pb and js on white bread.
I knew then that he was a keeper.
2.  Apple Tarte in France.  It was my first time in France.  I was 19 and had 5 younger teens in my care.  We descended on the tiny town of St. Amore with one goal in mind: sit in a cafe and drink espresso.  The owner of the cafe brought us our espresso and also a large, juicy, beautiful apple tart.  She set it on the table before us and said, "welcome to France!"  
Is it any wonder I love that country?
3.  The Girl and the Fig.  We ate there on our honeymoon, on our drive through the Napa wine country.  I especially remember the fig and port ice cream sandwich.  It was delicious and our first foray into fresh, simple and very good food.
4.  Cafe Napoli.  Also on our honeymoon.  In Carmel by the Sea.  The best minestrone I have ever had,  Even in Italy.
5.   Breakfast in the Space Needle: I've never eaten in a restaurant that spins.  Best Eggs Benedict I have ever eaten.  
The view was quite nice too.
6.  Breakfast in Sienna: Imagine a view of rolling Tuscan hills.  Of an ancient city just one hill away.  Of honey, jam and olive oil made from the fruit of the trees that surround you.  Of cheese and salami, olives and espresso.  Imagine heaven.  I think that breakfast was a tiny taste of it.  We were here. 
I long to return and vow someday I will.
7.  Bruschetta and Olives in the Cinque Terre:   We were staying in Riomagiorre.  There is a tiny restaurant there, perched on a cliff over the Mediterranean.  There had been a storm and the waves were crashing hard against the rocks.  We ordered white wine, bruschetta and olives.  Each one came from the hills right above us. I still remember the tastes of it all.  
Utterly simple and utterly delicious.
8.  Lamb and Rosti in the Alps: I am not a lamb person.  Lamb made up many of the not best meals of my life while I was in India.  But someone told us, "you have to try the lamb." So we did.  Served in a minuscule restaurant in the little town of Murren, in the Swiss Alps, it was better than any steak I've eaten.  It came with traditional Swiss potatoes called rosti and this garlic aoli that I could have eaten by the gallon.  It wasn't just our day of hiking that made it delicious beyond all reason.  It was just that good.
9.  Cane e Gatto: The most money we've ever spent on a meal.  A 5 table restaurant.  We ordered nothing--just ate what was brought to us.  Our waitress was the chef's granddaughter.  After our meal, the chef came out to talk to us.  He asked us to sign his book.  And to come again.
Seriously worth every penny.
10.  Dinner at Pocket Square Farm: Read about it here.  Just plain amazing.


I could go on.  But you, not being a foodie, might stop reading.
So I'll leave it at that.
But if you have an amazing meal to talk about, I am all ears.


Love from,
Greta

My Weekend in Pictures and the Letter B (List #11)

Oh my this weekend was busy.

I hit a couple garage sales, hosted a baby shower, went to the Farmers Market and to church, the beach and on a date with my hubby.
I'm still wiped out.

Here's the weekend in pictures and the letter B.  It's list # 11 by the way.

More details to come later.

1.  Bags

2.  Baby Shower

3.  Box

4.  Box # 2

5.  Bottle

6.  Breakfast

7.  Beach

8.  BBQ Potato Chips

9.  Boogie Boards

10.  Blondie

11.  Black hills

12.  And for fun:

Bears.  Beets.  Battlestar Galactica

Enjoy the cryptic post.  Tomorrow the kids and I are heading to the beach twice.  In the am for our weekly beach date with friends and then the afternoon for a bday party. After the party I have book club.

More than likely I will not be posting any info on these pics tomorrow night.  But I'll give you all the info soon.

Scouts honor.

By the way, totally cheating on these lists now.  I'm turning everything into a list.

Happy Tuesday!

Love from,

Greta

Garage Sale Treasures -- Worn but Worth It & the List (#10)

The other day, James wanted to know why it is cold at the South Pole if it is in the south.  Isn't is supposed to be cold in the north and hot in the south?

So I got out our globe, a flashlight and we learned about the equator.

After we were done, we left the globe on the table.

When I saw it this morning, I realized how much I love that globe.  And the table cloth underneath it.

They are 2 of my most favorite treasures.

Neither one is perfect.  Maybe that is why no one else bought them.

The globe had a decent size rip in the paper.  It was easily repaired with a dab of glue, but the seam still shows.

I don't mind one bit.  

Anyway, isn't it  better to pay $2 for a globe that is a bit worn than pay $20 (or more?) for a new one while the old one gets tossed in the trash?

And then there is this table cloth.  

This is my favorite table cloth of all time.  

I have never seen another one like it.  I love the colors and the design.

I'd like to hang it on the wall as art, but I love to use it on my table too much.

It gives me great joy to see it on my table.

Is that weird?

It has some stains on it that I can't get off.  When I bought it I thought I'd just turn it into pillows or something.  But you know, the stains don't even bother me now.

It's old.  It's not perfect.

I think we are too quick to chuck things.  Or we buy things for the "right now" that don't last or aren't really what we want because we are in such a hurry to get it done or just have something.

I am terrible about this.  Therefore I end up with a lot of donations to our local women's shelter.  However, I am trying to be better.  I want to be a better steward with my money and less wasteful with things.  We're reading the Little House on the Prairie books and it is very inspiring.

In our family, Aaron is a champ at this.  I am learning.  As evidence to this fact, my laundry room window is bare and waiting until I find just the right material for the curtain.  The rest of the room is done and it is killing me to not have the window finished. But I am making myself wait until I find what I really want instead of settling for something now and getting rid of it later.

This post seems to have morphed into a sermon on saving, so I might as well end with this point.  Another helpful thing I have found while garage saling, thrifting or estate saling is to have a list of items I want or need and and keep an eye out for them.

I have found a salad spinner, a citrus reamer, and countless other things I had planned on buying new but didn't have to.  Why buy a citrus reamer for $5 when you can get it for a quarter?  If you don't mind waiting a bit for something, there is a good chance you can find it if you keep your eyes open. 

Just don't forget to make that list.  Otherwise you'll be sure to walk right past that waffle iron you've been looking for.

Just a few things on my current list:

Canning supplies

Cast iron skillets

Club cook wear

Typewriters (duh)

Vintage wooden Fisher Price puzzles

Old coffee cans 

Vintage office supplies/accessories

Dress up clothes for my kids

*That's List # 10, by the way.

So do you have a list?  What's on it?

Garage sales often start on Fridays now.  I'll be out tomorrow looking for some coffee cans...

Love from,

Greta

List #9 --The Things I Won't Miss About Braces

Look who got her braces off!

One week ago, I spent 2.5 hours in the orthodontist chair.  After they were off, they brought me balloons and sang "You Got Your Braces Off Today, Hurrah!" to the tune of The Ants Went Marching One By One.  

It was slightly embarrassing.

I hadn't seen my teeth in 4 years.  I've missed them.

I was so excited I scheduled a haircut for that night, and Aaron let me run off the minute he came home.

Short hair, no silver on my teeth--I felt like a new woman!

The next night we went to the fair and I took a turn in the photo booth, solo, to document this momentous occasion.

If you've had braces, you know what I'm talking about.

Since I am horribly behind on my lists, I decided this would be the perfect time to write 

# 9.

Here it it.

List # 9: The Things I Won't Miss About Braces

1.  Waking up every morning with my lips stuck to my braces.  I had to peel them off.  No, I'm not joking.

2.  Constant cuts on the inside of my lips because of the small people in my house who have no concept of the weapon like force of their heads.  

3.  Constant canker sores on the inside of my lips from said cuts, from said heads.  4 years of canker sores people!  It is amazing I was ever nice to anyone.

4.  Picking my teeth.  Nuts, popcorn, salad, crab cakes, corn on the cob--just a few of the worst offenders.

5.  Always wondering if my sore teeth were from cavities or the braces.  It was always the braces.

6.  Having to explain to everyone that I got braces because of my receding gums.  That makes me feel like I am 80.

7.  Kissing my husband with braces.

8.  Telling my husband not to kiss me because my mouth/lips hurt too much.

9.  Getting the bristles of my toothbrush stuck in my braces.

10.  People saying, "you still have those on?"  It's like saying, "you're still pregnant?"  

Duh.

The morning I was headed out to get the braces off, I was quite nervous.  William made me a card of he and I holding hands to help me be brave.

he also told me, "I'm glad you're getting your braces off so you can look like a normal human again."

So sweet.

I'm hoping it was just the braces that made me look abnormal.  

Don't forget to enter the giveaway in celebration of me no longer being a brace face.  Go here.

Love from,

Greta

List # 8 of the 52 Lists: My Favorite Vegetarian Meals

Before I was born, my parents were vegetarians. Not vegan, but still pretty hard core. It was the 70s and my Dad had long hair. My Mom wore bell bottoms. There was no Whole Foods and eating healthy wasn't trendy or hip. It was hippy and fringe and probably drove my trim- haired, Navy grandfather a bit crazy.

But my parents were into it. They had a huge garden. My Mom made her own ketchup and mayonnaise. They ate muesli and brown rice. Instead of chocolate, they had carob. My older brother and sister walked to the health food store to get a treat, not 7-11. My mom put sesame tahini sandwiches in their lunch bags. (Which they threw in the trash on the way to school.)

My parents stopped being vegetarian a short while after I was born. They became Christians and food stopped being their religion. Besides, when people had them over for roast beef after church on Sunday, it felt awkward saying, "oh we'll just have peanut butter sandwiches. We also like sesame tahini."

So while there was a meat loaf for dinner now and then, pork chops and chicken, we still ate a lot of vegetarian meals.

They were good and we all liked them.

Keep in mind though, they weren't necessarily "health food." A lot of my mom's vegetarian recipes are heavy on the cheese. But they are good. Good. Good. Good.

So here is the list of a few of my favorites.

List # 8

My Favorite Vegetarian Meals

1. Zucchini linguine. Just a few simple ingredients: zucchini, cheese, cream and pasta, but together a symphony in my mouth. It tastes even better the next day.

It is rich. I eat it maybe once a year.

2. Mushroom Cutlets. If you love mushrooms then these are for you. Diced mushrooms bound together with an egg, some breadcrumbs, a touch of grated cheese and some green onion. Pat together into a burger shape, gently fry and serve on a bun with lettuce, tomato and avocado. It is better than any burger you have ever had.

3. Noodles and onions. I hated when my mom made this dish. The amount of onions called for in this recipe caused my eyes to burn and weep the whole time dinner was being made. I would hide out in my room with a wet towel over my eyes. But when those onions, sliced thin and cooked to a sweet, golden brown, were heaped on top of wide egg noodles and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, well all the pain was worth is.

Sadly, I cannot eat this dish now. It would cause me far more pain than burning eyes. So I just remember with great fondness a favorite dish of my childhood.

4. Rice Tacos. A hands down favorite and one we still eat all the time. We just had them for dinner last night as a matter of fact. The one thing about rice tacos is there are hard and fast rules about ingredients. If you change it up, they won't taste good. Trust me on this one.

Follow the rules and you won't be disappointed. Try it tonight.

Who knows, you might be having sesame tahini sandwiches next.

Rice Tacos

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice

corn tortillas

2 large carrots grated

1 cup lettuce, shredded

1 cup tomatoes diced

1 cup grated cheese

All of the above are toppings for tacos--you can make more or less, depending on how many people you are serving. Use your judgement.

Salsa and guacamole to taste

To Prepare

Cook rice according to instructions

Grate carrots and cheese on large holes of a box grater

Shred lettuce and dice tomatoes

Prepare guacamole

When rice is almost done cooking, cover bottom of a large frying pan with canola oil, or some other light oil and heat until hot. Fry tortillas into taco shells.

Assemble tacos with rice and all the toppings.

Light some candles and incense and pretend you're a hippy while you enjoy your delicious vegetarian meal.

A word about The Rules

As I said before, there are some hard and fast rules about the ingredients for rice tacos.

#1 You must use brown rice. The nutty, sweet flavor of the brown rice lends itself perfectly to these tacos. White rice does not work. It just tastes gross.

#2 Add the grated carrot. Again, the sweetness of the carrot adds a special something to these tacos. Besides the added benefit of more vegetables, they just taste really good.

#3 Additional toppings may be good, but these are essential.
#4 Use corn tortillas and fry them. Have you ever noticed how much more flavorful corn tortillas are than flour? That is because white flour tortillas are processed white paste and anything that would add flavor has been stripped out.

Use corn.

You don't have to fry, but really, just eat these once in a while and do it. DO NOT buy those pre-made shells from the grocery store. The success of this meal is the mingling of all the different, fresh flavors. Those pre-made shells are anything but.

If you just can't bring yourself to fry, (I understand. These are the only things I ever fry) then simply warm the tortillas on the stove. But I warn you, they won't be as good.

Rice tacos. Go meatless tonight!

Love from Greta